Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this eARC. “WOW” and “WTF” are all I can really say without giving away more than the book’s description. This is a page turner with short chapters and many twists. It was less mystery and more action packed/survivor oriented than I anticipated, but I enjoyed every bit of it! The Last One by Will Dean comes out on August 8, 2023.

Caz is on the Atlantica, a luxury cruise liner with her new boyfriend. After their first night, Caz wakes up alone. She quickly realizes the entire ship is empty.

This was a very exciting and fast paced read. Once I started it I couldn’t put it down. You definitely want to avoid spoilers for this once because it would be easy to ruin the experience. It’s all a big mystery and you find out a little more and a little more as time goes by. The few last pages were too much for me, which was also my experience with Dean’s last novel, but I was so entertained throughout, I forgive.

“Take away basic comforts and authority figures and it’s not long before people reveal their true personalities.”

The Last One comes out 8/8.

I can’t say I loved this book as it kept me tense every time i was reading it. So i guess I can say it was a good book if you like a good thriller. It did keep me guessing . I was actually on a cruise ship as I was reading it so that added a little more creepiness. I cant imagine waking up and finding myself as the only person on the ship. Im giving it four stars since it did keep me guessing and anticipating outcomes so i was definitely involved with the characters! I am glad it is a story coming from the author’s imagination and not from the reality in a newspaper!!

One trope that I always enjoy is the high-seas murder mystery, a locked room mystery out on the ocean. The Last One by Will Dean is about a woman who is basically abandoned on a ship, the only person on a boat previously occupied. I’ve been on many cruises and cannot begin to fathom what would happen if I woke up to find I was totally alone. Interesting concept, isn’t it?

It’s a suspenseful read as you follow Caz’s journey and the story plays out. I enjoyed the writing style and absolutely loved Will’s book, First Born. I’m looking forward to whatever he writes next.


When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love, Pete. On their first night they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends, but when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing.

And when she walks out into the corridor, all the cabin doors are open. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew, nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.

Out on August 8.

I liked the premise of this one, but ultimately I felt the execution was just a bit off. Like so many others have said, do not read too much about this one ahead of time. The author had some solid messages about social media and society's obsession with tragedy, but he was a bit heavy handed in his delivery. This one had moments of great tension and page flipping, but much of it was predictable. I HATED the ending!!

What would you do? You and your boyfriend board the luxurious cruise liner Atlantica to start the vacation of a lifetime. You spend your first evening doing mandatory lifeboat drills, exploring fine dining and meeting your fellow passengers. Then, exhausted, you settle into your comfortable bed in a Platinum Cabin and fall soundly asleep. And when you wake up…you are alone. I mean alone. All the rooms are empty. So are the restaurants, the shops, the decks…you are alone. This is what happens to Caz Ripley. And what happens next is what makes The Last One impossible to put down. It is suspenseful and totally unique. I’m a little afraid of what Will Dean will write next. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Will Dean for this ARC.

This book started off with a bang right from the start, but then it became very slow going until about 40% of the way through. However, when the action started, it didn’t stop! Every single chapter was full of action and twists and this book literally had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. I really connected with the characters and felt like I was right there with them. The plot of this book was very unique and I would highly recommend this to others! If you feel bored in the beginning, hang in there! It is worth it!

I was immediately drawn into Will R. Dean's new book The Last One simply based on the premise alone. I love a locked-room thriller and I LOVE cruise ships, so this one sounded promising. Thankfully, it delivered on every front. It will be difficult to review because I believe readers should go in knowing next to nothing about this. Actually, I really appreciated how little the synopsis gave away. Nowadays it seems that synopses give away too much about a book's concept, so I was happy with how short The Last One's was.

When I realized Dean set the whole thing up in the first two chapters, I was a little worried about how he would maintain the momentum for another 131 chapters of first-person POV on an abandoned cruise liner. My worries were almost as instantly quelled, though, because I could not put this down. If I hadn't made the mistake of starting it right before going to bed, this would've been a book I could've easily finished in one sitting. The chapters were short, breezy, and almost always ended with a cliffhanger that required me to keep reading.

I don't read mysteries or thrillers with any intention on trying to guess the twists or solve anything. Even still, I didn't see any of it coming. Every few chapters the stakes changed and I was left with whiplash. It takes a lot for me to vocalize my thoughts while reading, but I let out a few "Oh my god"s throughout. May others be able to guess what happens? Surely. I wasn't, so I count that as a win.

We follow Caz's point of view throughout, so we naturally get some background information, especially in regards to her family and their issues. I would say we get information in about 60-75% of the chapters, ranging from a paragraph to two pages. With that much real estate, there were times that I felt her stories to be a bit repetitive, but Dean didn't spend long enough to make me bored or feel the need to skip past a paragraph. I can see how it might be problematic for other readers, though.

With most thrillers, the ending is a true make or break point of the book. For me, I felt Dean (almost entirely) nailed it. It did wrap up very quickly and I do wish we got a little more of the after, but overall I was satisfied.

The Last One wasn't entirely perfect, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. With the way my reading has gone this year, I anticipate this showing up in my top reads of 2023 list. I anticipate the publication date so I can interact with other readers and see their takes on this gripping thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing the digital advanced readers copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

The Last One is a book unlike any other. Here’s what we are told: a women boards a ship for a vacation with her boyfriend. They enjoy a nice evening dinner together and go to sleep. When the woman wakes up, no one else is on the ship. What happens next will have you frantically reading and you won’t want to stop.

This book was INCREDIBLE. There were so many twists and each page was a surprise. I haven’t read anything like this and I don’t think anything will ever compare.

I don’t want to share too much, as the synopsis was left vague for a reason. I think more thrillers should leave out plot details because this was such a fun read.

This was my first book by Will Dean and I will be reading his other work immediately.

This book was a crazy wild ride, but so good! A woman goes on an ocean liner with her boyfriend, only to wake up the next morning and find every single person is gone - just disappeared. Like nothing I've read before, and kept me interested until the very end!

2.5 Stars

Thank you to Will Dean, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I requested this book after I saw people on TikTok raving about it. How unpredictable it was, how scary parts were. But honestly, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book at all. I was able to figure it out and was able to figure out a character's part in it way before the end.

This book was long. Way longer than it should have been in my opinion. Caz talked about Pete, Gemma, and her parents over and over again. It became repetitive and if half of that was cut out this book would probably have lost about 100 pages. Let's not talk about the ending.

I also couldn't connect to any of the characters. Though I did like, Frannie. She was my favorite. Maybe it was because she cared so much about the dogs. I wanted more background on Smith. It was mentioned that he had a criminal record, but this was never mentioned again. I felt like there should have been a few details regarding this.

There were things that I loved, like the boat diagram in the beginning. It helped me picture the story better. I also loved the short chapters. But this was far from a 5-star read for me. Don't get me wrong, I liked the aspect of the book. It was just way too long and not thrilling enough for me.

This was one of the most unique books I have ever read! All the synopsis tells you is that Caz, the main character, goes on a cruise and wakes up the only person left on the ship. I literally can’t say anything else about what happens in this book or I will give the craziness away. I have never felt true anxiety while reading before, but the end of each chapter had me feeling so worried for Caz. I also felt manipulated and gaslit towards the end and really felt for Caz as she processed what was happening. My only issue with this book was the ending, I didn’t love the cliffhanger it left you on. I felt like what the characters went through deserved a little more closure than what was given.

Overall this story was a wild ride from the start. I definitely recommend this if you want something unique and just absolutely crazy.

This was really good and definitely kept my attention throughout which is what I want in a thriller. If you like short chapters, cliffhangers, and super twisty, you will like this. Also has a good 'creepy factor'. I did find the characters unlikable in parts.. like just doing things and you want to scream at them not to. And then I really can't get behind that ending... like just a little too far fetched. But still rating it high because of how good it was throughout and kept me reading.

3.25/5

I really liked the premise here, I can’t even imagine waking up alone on a cruise ship and I was so curious about what direction the author would take here. How did an entire ship full of passengers vanish into thin air? I had zero idea where this was going and as thing started to be revealed I was skeptical. You have to be able to suspend all disbelief here to even begin to enjoy this because there are a lot of things that happen that will make you go, umm no that doesn’t even make sense. But I went along with it for the most part and I would say I mostly enjoyed the ride. It did feel a bit drawn out and long winded at points for me, I think it could’ve been a little shorter and the ending did throw me for a loop. Not sure if I loved the clever last chapter or not but it made me think. This definitely won’t be for everyone, I can see it being very divisive but that’s always kind of fun for me to see different perspectives. I can’t really say anything else without verging into spoiler territory but this one was definitely unique.

Caz and Pete are on a vacation onboard the cruise liner RMS Atlantica. Caz wakes up the next morning and reaches out for Pete. His side of the bed is empty, and the sheets are cool. Where could Pete have gone! The ship is moving full speed. She opens the balcony door to look out and he's not there either. She checks her phone and there's no missed call or text message. Then she sees that all the cabin doors are open and every room is unlocked and unoccupied. There's no one onboard. Believing that she is alone, she panics! The ship is going full-steam ahead. I loved the premise of the book. There were some good moments and some moments were just bonkers. Would I recommend this book? Of course, I love a good locked-room suspense story and this one delivered. #THELASTONE #NETGALLEY

The Last One was not at all what I expected!

As someone with a deep fear of cruises and the depths of the ocean, I was shaken by the premise of being trapped alone on a ocean liner. I could not put this book down in the beginning because I just had to know how Caz ended up in this unfathomable situation. How did she end up alone? Where did her partner and all of their fellow passengers go? Who was running the ship? Would she make it back to the safety or dry land or meet her fate out in the dangerous depths of the sea?

As the book progressed it gave me a Survivor meets Hunger Games vibe. For someone who loves the thrill that comes from survival type challenges this book is exactly what you’re looking for. Not exactly my cup of tea, so that slowed me down a bit throughout the middle and I felt it was a bit lengthy to get to the crucial points of the plot. A few times I thought this storyline may just not be for me but I had to see it through and figure out what happened to Caz.

The pace did pick back up toward the end and the last 30% of the book or so I couldn’t put it down again! The very last twist may have been a little much, but overall it was a solid read!

Last One seems like a pretty simple book. Looks can be deceiving though.

When Caroline “Caz” Ripley stepped on board of the RMS Atlantica with her new boyfriend Pete, it seems like the trip of a lifetime. They explore the ship, eat, drink, make friends. When she wakes up the next morning though, Pete is gone. Actually, everyone on board is gone, and Caz is alone and left to figure out what happened.

I found this book very intriguing. To reveal any more plot details than that would be to spoil it, so I’ll refrain. I will say I thought the twist about 35% of the way through the book did shock me and the book takes on a very different story and tone from that point. There may need to be a bit of suspension of disbelief to keep going, but I think it’s worth it to do so.

I did feel like this book had a bit of a pacing issue, especially toward the end and got a bit bogged down in the backstory of our main character. It is a long book and I felt at times it could have been a bit more finessed, which might have cut down on its length. It did get my heart pounding in other moments as Caz is trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

Overall, I would recommend this book, but do want to caution that this book is different than what is being advertised.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨💫

ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴏɴᴇ
ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅᴇᴀɴ
ᴀᴛʀɪᴀ ʙᴏᴏᴋs
ᴘᴜʙ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: ᴀᴜɢᴜsᴛ 𝟾 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹
✩✩✩✩✩

Happy Monday! If your looking for a wild, major UNPREDICTABLEthriller 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑂𝑛𝑒 by author Will Dean is it! Seriously, I was mindblown while reading this and I was not expecting anything that occurred. Each chapter surpised me more and more, and there was absolutely no predicting how the story was going to turn out. With that being said, I went in completely blind- I did not read any synopses or reviews and I reccomend you doing the same.

Author @willrdean has been a favorite author of mine for awhile now and the books I’ve read by him have been easy 5 stars. His writing style is twisty, flows well, and his stories are always unique and creative.

Other 5 ⭐️books I reccomend by this author:
✨𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛
✨𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝐵𝑜𝑟𝑛

Special thanks to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the early copy. Less than a month until pub date, you NEED to add this one to your TBR!

✨QOTD: have you ever been on a cruise?

Loved this! What an interesting and original premise. What would you do if you woke up to a completely empty cruise ship? That’s precisely what happens when Caz wakes up on the RMS Atlantica. What happens next is unlike anything you can imagine!

I read this pretty quickly, it felt like an episode of black mirror. I would give it 3.5 stars but will round up to 4. I did not like the ending but found it to be an interesting and quick read